Mother who made up abduction story after dumping dead body of her baby is jailed

It was "unimaginable" that a mother could dump the dead body of her six-month-old baby girl in a rubbish bin, a judge said yesterday, sentencing her to five years in jail.

Judge Amanda Woodcock said even pet owners would not dispose of their dead pets in a bin the way Ng Tin-yan did her daughter Yu Hoi-ching. "How a mother could was unimaginable," she said.

The judge described the crime as "planned and well thought out", citing the 33-year-old's online research on ways to dispose of the child and how she falsely filled out a feeding schedule to pretend her baby was still alive.

"[This behaviour] is removed from how a bereaved mother [would] act," she said. "You have shocked the public."

Ng previously pleaded guilty to perverting public justice and preventing lawful burial of a dead body.

The judge said that Ng's lie caused more than 100 police officers to embark on search operations, costing taxpayers up to HK$1.8 million.

And because of her false claims, public sympathy was raised along with fears among local mothers.